ABOUT Mu.ZEE
Our mission
Our vision is to be a Mu.ZEE that sparks the imagination, enabling visitors to appreciate life and beauty through art, to care for them more deeply, and to be inspired towards discovery, reflection, and the use of their imagination.
Our mission is to enhance public enjoyment and broaden understanding of art in Belgium from 1880 to tomorrow, through a unique and varied collection presented at exceptional and appealing coastal locations.
Our ambition is to connect, stimulate, and challenge people, heritage communities, and art.
Our starting point is always the artist: their work, visual language, context, networks, and attitudes.
We strive to be a public home where art, artists, and visitors all feel welcome.
Our core values are:
• Authenticity. As a museum by the sea, we embrace sincerity towards art and artists and maintain a distinctive character that, like sand, can sometimes feel rough.
• Generosity. We are an art house that welcomes visitors with warm hospitality and collaborates generously with partners.
• Imagination. We bring art to life through the passion of our staff, encouraging discovery, reflection, and the use of imagination among our audience.
• Ambition. We seek to excel both in museum professionalism and in entrepreneurship to realize our ambition.
• Care. Through our museums, we take social responsibility for the care of the planet and humanity. Everyone counts and everyone is included.
Who is who?
Art Division Academic policy and research
Mieke Mels,
curator
Ilse Roosens,
curator
Stefan Huygebaert
Curator
Wendy Van Hoorde,
staff member
Inne Gheeraert,
coordinator/curator Permeke Museum
Gregory Boite
project manager Ensor archive
Conservation and collection management
Barbara de Jong,
head of conservation and collection management
Stijn Peeters,
collection registrar
Karolien Withofs
restaurator
Johan Van Roose,
administrative staff member
Jan(us) Boudewijns
loan coordinator
Public
Elise Vanhoecke,
education staff member
Roos Nieboer
education staff member Permeke Museum
Nina De Bruyne,
reception staff member
Communications
Colette Castermans,
head of communications
coordinator of the Peiremuzee
museum shop coordinator
Inge Busschaert,
digital communications officer
Administration unit
Bram Bekemans,
accountant
Eline De Cloedt,
hr departement
Gerda Balcaen
Lizy Delheye
Nancy Blieck
Building & facility
Ethel Van den Daele
building & facility manager
Technical team
Eddy Billiau
Lorenzo TJaeckx
Ronny Malesys
Maintenance team
Karine Inghelbrecht
Shahida Bi Aziz
Christiaan Laforce
Ubah Mohamed Shil
Library
Heleen Claeys,
librarian
Hospitality
Herbert Deruwe
Hospitality staff member
Lise Surmont
Hospitality staff member -
Peiremuzee
Administrative Board
List of members of the Board
Bart Plasschaert (chairman)
Sabine Friederichs (vice-chairwoman)
André Baert
Jan De Bock
Ann Duflou
Tom Lamont
Jan Loones
Lisa Lust
Margot Neyskens
Independent Directors
Inge Cornillie
Simon Van Damme
Lieven Van den Abeele
Dirk De Clippeleir
Luc Tayart de Borms
Observers
Els Cuisinier
Martine Meire
Jacques Mertens
Dominique Savelkoul
Isabel Van Dael
Additional members General Meeting
An Fonteyne
Ingrid Denys
Sonja Vanhee
Tom Cornelissen
Christian Veroughstraete
The building
Mu.ZEE is housed in a building with a rich history. Until 1981 it was part of the SEO, Spaarzaamheid Economie Oostende, founded in 1892. This cooperative became a success story in the Ostend distribution sector and soon branches were established in Ostend and along the coast. Looking for new headquarters with a department store for the SEO in the late 1940s, the decision was taken to extend an existing SEO building located in Amsterdamstraat, which housed a pharmacy and beer bottling plant. The initial extension was on the Gentstraat side, but the icing on the cake was the new main store with a thirty-meter long curved glass wall in Romestraat: shoes, medicines, clothing, food - you name it, it was here. At the SEO, tokens were used to make payments, not money. The SEO was a major employer for the local population and many people from Ostend knew or had someone in the family who worked at the Coo, as the SEO was popularly known. Over Mamazels, Stongs en percenten. Een geschiedenis van S.E.O. 1892 – 1981 by Olivia Simoen tells the rich story of this cooperative.
However, the success story came to an end in 1981 when it went bankrupt, but five years later, in 1986, the doors reopened: the Provincial Museum for Modern Art, better known under the iconic name of the PMMK, found a safe haven there after several years of alternating between Bruges and Ypres. The commercial premises with their stories disappeared into the history books forever, finally making way for museum spaces. In the 2000s, the Provincial Museum for Modern Art also found its way to the former department store. A new museum under the name Mu.ZEE was born in late 2009.
The architect Gaston Eysselinck (1907-1953) was behind a number of branches for the SEO, including the new headquarters with department store in Romestraat. Between 1945 and 1953 he worked in Ostend: in addition to a few houses, he also put his name to the PTT/RTT building, now the Cultuurcentrum De Grote Post (p. 297 ff. Marc Dubois, Gaston Eysselinck. In de voetsporen van Le Corbusier, 2019).
Vacancies
Currently, there are no open vacancies. However, if you would still like to apply, please send your CV along with a cover letter to vacatures@muzee.be
Security
Mu.ZEE License number : 0825.383.589
Contact :
Mu.ZEE is affiliated with PSA (Private Security Association).
Team
Team of qualified security agents licensed by internal affairs, reception staff, ticket control, museum staff, public mediators, administrative staff, depot managers
Claudia Jaques
Hilde Brandt
Kim Plasman
Freek Allaert
Patricia de Jaeger
Tessa Mauroo
Lars Pitteljon
Khoshal Doust
Kurt Lievens
Camera surveillance
In accordance with the camera law of 21 March 2007 - regulating the placement and use of surveillance cameras.
Responsible processing:
Civil liability insurance
Mu.ZEE vzw, 0825.383.589 , is insured against physical or material damage resulting from the performance of its activities with regard to private security.
The injured parties can turn directly to Ethias
The policy number is 04/11 – 45.252.502